


The 10th Wheel in an Amusement Park

by ALTsvtsector123



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Amusement Park, Fluff, Friendship, OT7, Other, Why Did I Write This?, after debut, i just love ENHYPEN and the I-Land boys I guess, i'm sorry i don't know what i'm writing, mostly jay centric??, there's other POVs too though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26987701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALTsvtsector123/pseuds/ALTsvtsector123
Summary: On Ni-ki’s birthday, the members of ENHYPEN decided to go on an incognito trip to the amusement park.Of course, it was Jay who bought the tickets. He realised something after — there were HeeWon, JakeHoon and SunKi. But what about him? Park.However, thankfully, a coincidental meeting with three people they missed had changed that fact.… Or did he just become the 10th wheel?
Relationships: K & Park Jongseong | Jay, Lee Heeseung & Yang Jungwon, Ngô Ngọc Hưng | Hanbin & Wang Yixiang | Nicholas & K, minor Kim Sunoo/Nishimura Riki | Ni-ki - Relationship, very minor Park Sunghoon/Shim Jaeyoon | Jake
Comments: 18
Kudos: 75





	The 10th Wheel in an Amusement Park

**Author's Note:**

> Hello.  
> First off, I just want to say sorry for the weird title. I don't know what to call it.  
> Second, I apologise in advance for any typos or grammar mistakes. I wrote this while my eye was hurting😅 though I don't know why I decided to do that.  
> Third, ENJOY the (probably badly planned out) story~

It had all started with Sunoo asking their precious maknae what he wanted the most for his birthday while the group was eating dinner.

None of them had expected Ni-ki to ask whether they would mind going to an amusement park to spend his birthday there. “It holds many memories for me,” Ni-ki told them shyly, unlike his usual straightforward personality. “My family took me to one before and it was really fun. I… I really want to make new memories with you guys there too.”

And how could they possibly say no to the face that their adorable maknae was making?

Hence, they decided that they would go to an amusement park the next day.

Naturally, it was Jay, who called the amusement park and paid for the 7 tickets using his credit card.

* * *

“Hoodies on, everyone?” Heeseung asked the next morning. “Remember to wear your masks too.” They were going _incognito_ , after all. That was the condition that their management had when they proposed the idea of going to the amusement park for Ni-ki’s birthday. The company didn’t want anyone recognizing them since they had already debuted and all.

When Heeseung saw that everyone was prepared, he grabbed his backpack that was filled with necessities — caps, water bottles, a few snacks, a cup of ramen, more masks, tissues, sunscreen, and five folded umbrellas. He didn’t bring his wallet though. He left that to Jay.

“Ready?” After one last scan of the other members, Heeseung opened the door of their dorm. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Jay was in a predicament.

It was something he realised when they finally entered the amusement park.

Yes, he had remembered to buy fast passes so that they would get the best experience of the amusement park.

Yes, they had Heeseung, who was currently a living Doraemon with all the necessities, except for money, for some weird reason that Jay was not aware of.

And yes, all members were currently looking at the many rides in awe.

But… _Oh my God_ , he was the 7th wheel here.

First, there was Heeseung and Jungwon, the father-and-son pairing. Knowing how overprotective Heeseung was of the younger, the older most likely wouldn’t let Jungwon out of his sight. He would stick to Jungwon like glue, glaring at anyone else who would come close (members included), and Jungwon wouldn’t mind it at all. In fact, Jungwon would probably just smile and continue to enchant Heeseung with his cute dimples that resembled black holes. And that would make Heeseung more whipped for the younger than he already was.

Next, there was Jake and Sunghoon. His one and only unit had been stolen by the pure puppy-like boy. Not that he minded it that much. He actually hoped they would get together soon, instead of pining for each other while suffering in silence. Those two were just too stubborn and too deep in their pessimistic thoughts to admit their feelings to each other. So really, Jay always had to refrain from telling them to JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY. Maybe he should do that, actually, if it would help his fellow 2002-liners.

(But yeah, maybe he did miss the times when it was just Sunghoon and Jay, just the two of them, practising _7th Sense_ for their I-Land audition. Not that he’d admit it out loud. Sunghoon would tease him with it every chance he could if he did so.)

Then, there was Sunoo and Ni-ki. _Oh man_ , these two were _the_ pair. Only a blind man wouldn’t be able to see the chemistry and love those two held for each other. Their feelings for each other had been very obvious — the fond glances they sneak at each other when one of them was looking away, the constant touches they sent each other, the small acts of flirting — and their feelings had long since been reciprocated too. 

_Thank goodness_ for that. Jay wasn’t sure if he would be able to see another pair of his friends, who suited each other so much, pining hopelessly for each other. 

(Ahem, _Sunghoon and Jake_.)

And last but not least, there was him. Jay Park. Now, also known as the 7th wheel on this outing at the amusement park.

There would be no one to ride double-seated rides with him, no one to walk around the amusement park with beside him, no one—

“HYUNG!” Ni-ki’s shout brought Jay out of his thoughts. He snapped his head straight, watching as Ni-ki rushed towards two people near the amusement park’s toilets. Jay felt his legs moving before he could understand anything. Now, why the h*ll was this kid running towards a pair of strangers?!

Fortunately, he managed to catch a hold of Ni-ki’s arm when they were only around a 100 meters away from the people Ni-ki was rushing to.

The younger turned back, raising a defiant eyebrow at him. “Jay? What are you doing?”

“That’s _my_ question, Ni-ki. What are you—”

“Ni-ki!” Jay was interrupted by none other than Sunoo. “I told you not to let go of my hand! What are you doing?!” Well, at least the small fox had asked the question he wanted to ask too.

At that question, Ni-ki unexpectedly brightened. “Sunoo-hyung, there!” He pointed at the two people, who by now, were staring confusedly at them. Jay pushed down Ni-ki’s hand. “Ni-ki, don’t point at strangers, it’s rude.”

Ni-ki faced Jay, gawking at him (at least, he looked like he was, Jay couldn’t really tell since the younger had his mask on, but he could just feel it). The Korean-American furrowed his eyebrows. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Before he could answer, however, Heeseung’s voice piped in. “We shouldn’t split up,” the oldest said sternly as he walked briskly towards them, Jungwon in tow. Sunghoon and Jake were walking calmly towards them. They seemed to be talking with each other in hushed whispers.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Heeseung questioned, once everyone was finally grouped together.

Ni-ki heaved a huge sigh, but he didn’t miss a beat. “Look!” He raised his arm again, pointing at the two people, who, for some weird reason, were still hanging around the bathroom.

Jay felt like face-palming. “We’re seeing them, Ni-ki, but—” Sunoo let out an extremely loud gasp. The little sunshine nudged Jay in the ribs. “Ow!” Sunoo paid no mind to Jay’s yelp. “Look closer, Jay-hyung!”

At that, Jay could only sigh. Was he not allowed to finish saying even one sentence? Still, he followed the younger’s words, narrowing his eyes at the people. His eyes widened. That was—

“K-HYUNG! HANBIN-HYUNG!” Seeing that Jay had finally noticed what he already had since a long time ago, Ni-ki took the chance to run towards the two people again.

Everyone else followed suit, hurrying to them.

* * *

K and Hanbin had been waiting for their friend, who was currently taking a Number 2 (AKA egesting, or in simpler words, pooping). Then, all of a sudden, they had suddenly heard a loud shout. They had ignored it, of course, since they were in an amusement park. Anyone could have started screaming. It didn’t really necessarily have anything to do with them.

However, that proved wrong when 7 boys, clad in matching hoodies of different colour and masks on, started walking, no, more like running, towards them.

“Who are you?” K asked bluntly, furrowing his eyebrows, looking at them suspiciously, when those 7 people reached them. His hand was holding Hanbin’s, ready to run with him if these suspicious-looking boys tried to do any harm to them.

That was when Jay finally remembered that they were all wearing masks. He quickly pulled down his mask, grinning widely as he saw their hyungs’ widening eyes. He immediately told the others about their masks too, and they all took them off, forgetting all about going incognito. 

Well, it wasn’t like anyone would be near enough to catch a glimpse of their faces anyways.

“Surprise?” Jake asked softly, when the only response they received from the two hyungs, whom they haven’t met for quite a while, was frozen statues of the said hyungs.

Right after he finished speaking, K and Hanbin blinked.

Then, the screaming started.

K and Ni-ki hugged each other, the younger Japanese jumping into the arms of the older one, letting him carry all his weight.

“Sunoo-ah,” Hanbin said, grinning, as he hugged the younger. “It’s been so long!”

“Hanbin-hyung,” Sunoo cried out. The poor boy was starting to tear up.

Sure, they had kept in touch — in fact, they had a whole group chat filled with all 23 of them, where they’d talk about random things. But messaging and seeing them up close, in person, was a whole other thing.

Sunoo didn’t want to let go of his cute hyung’s embrace.

“Let me in,” Jake said, joining the hug. Sunghoon joined as well, beside Jake. Then, Heeseung followed, then Jungwon. Jay went for it too, wrapping his arms around his friends. K and Ni-ki joined them last.

It must have been a strange sight, seeing nine boys hugging each other like that, in front of the public bathroom. It was even more surprising that no one disturbed them. Maybe no one dared to. It was a warm, harmonious moment, after all.

Suddenly, Jay felt a touch on his arm. He whipped his head to the side, locking eyes with… “Nicholas!” he said loudly, surprised. So the Taiwanese boy was here too. He heard the rest of his friends exclaim with wonder too.

The male was looking as chill as ever, dressed in a tie-dye T-shirt, jeans and his beanie. He grinned. “Mind if I join in the hug?”

Of course, no one objected. Now, 10 boys stood, embracing each other, though one of them was starting to suffocate in the middle of the circle.

“Umm… Guys?” Hanbin started softly. “I can’t really breathe here.” Immediately after he said so, he felt the people around him take many steps back, the circle breaking. He grinned. “Thank you.”

“So… What are you doing here?” Sunghoon asked. K was the one who answered. “Hanbin got three free tickets to the amusement park and he invited us. So, here we are.”

Sunoo nodded. “Ooooohh.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Hanbin, who was just feeling confused as to why the younger was acting that way.

“What about you?” K asked. Then, he remembered. “Ah, nevermind. It’s Ni-ki’s birthday today, isn’t it? That’s why you came here. Ni-ki, happy birthday!” A second later, he added, “Happy belated birthday to you too, Sunghoon-ah.” They had already congratulated Sunghoon and Ni-ki in the group chat, but nevertheless, there was no harm in congratulating them again, now face-to-face. Hanbin and Nicholas congratulated the two as well.

Once the congratulations were done, before anyone could say anything else, the sound of a tummy grumbling very, very loudly could be heard.

“Wah!” Sunoo exclaimed, rubbing his nape sheepishly. “Looks like I’m hungry.”

Sunghoon frowned. “But we just entered the amusement park.” Not to mention, they had already eaten breakfast too.

Ni-ki casted a glare at the older. “If Sunoo-hyung says he’s hungry, we’re all hungry.”

And so, they went to the nearest restaurant they could find.

* * *

“Hey,” Jay began. “Does anyone…” His words died down when he realised that everyone was conversing together, also in their own groups. _Ah…_ He glanced at the trio they had just met. The three were seated on the same bench, Hanbin in the middle of the two other seemingly intimidating men. Realisation dawned on him, and he finally knew why Sunoo had given _the look_ at Hanbin just now.

But that meant… He was just demoted to the 10th wheel here.

_Should I give them time?_ Jay wondered, pursing his lips. He had wanted to ask if anyone would be willing to go with him to buy food. He had already asked everyone else what they wanted to eat and he had already jotted the orders down on his phone. All that was left was to queue and buy the food.

_I’ll go myself_ , he thought in the end, unable to make himself disturb the happy chattering the others were having.

“Heeseung-hyung, I’ll go buy the food now,” Jay whispered to the older. As expected, Heeseung asked whether he needed help. Jay shook his head. “Don’t mind me. Just continue talking to the others, alright?” Heeseung nodded. “Be back soon.” Jay flashed him a smile. Their conversation ended with no one else but Jungwon, who was stuck to Heeseung’s side, hearing it.

And maybe that was why K suddenly felt alarmed when he realised that Jay wasn’t at the table with them, after a few minutes had passed. He stood up, gaining the attention of the other boys.

“What’s wrong, K-hyung?” Jake asked worriedly. K frowned. “Where’s Jay?”

“Oh,” Heeseung said. “He just went to buy our— Ah, there he is! JAY-AHHH!” He started waving his arms wildly.

Eight other heads turned to the direction in which Heeseung was waving at. There, Jay was walking towards them, focusing on not dropping the five trays, filled to the brim with food, that he held in his arms. Soon, he reached their table.

“Oh my God,” the Korean-American breathed out, placing the last tray on their table. “That was difficult.” Jake grinned, looking at him in awe. “Woah, man, how did you do that? You carried _five_ trays by yourself. That was amazing!” Jay gave the Australian a wink, earning himself narrowed eyes from Sunghoon. “I have my ways,” he said proudly. 

He took a seat beside his fellow 2002-liner. His eyes landed on K, who was still standing. “Hmm? Sit down, K-hyung. Let’s all start eating.” K sat down wordlessly, gazing helplessly at him. Jay didn’t know what happened for his hyung to be looking at him worriedly. So, he took a fry, bit it and pushed the remaining to K. “Eat, K-hyung. It tastes really delicious. Really tasty.” At that, K’s worried look mostly dissipated and a smile bloomed on the man’s face as he took a fry. Jay cheered himself on for being able to succeed in making K smile.

The chatter at the table continued, mostly with Sunoo and Jay talking. The others gave their comments once in a while.

All in all, it was a happy time for the ten friends.

Soon, they were done eating. The ten boys decided to spend the day together, following the words “the more, the merrier”.

Jay walked behind them, watching them as they were split back into their previous duos and groups (oh, and solos) — HeeWon, JakeHoon, Sunki, KNichoBin, and himself. Just Jay.

Truthfully, he had wanted to walk beside K and chat with the older. He had admired K since I-Land, after all. The Japanese male had also been a trustworthy older brother to him back then. He was sure that Ni-ki wanted to do the same, but he had been stopped by Sunoo, who had whispered a few words to him.

Not that it was that much of a whisper, considering that Jay had heard it very clearly.

The boy had said something along the lines of “No, Ni-ki! Can’t you see that K-hyung likes Hanbin-hyung? He’s also going against Nicholas-hyung for Hanbin-hyung’s heart, so don’t give him more of a disadvantage!” Ni-ki could only gape at Sunoo, purse his lips and nod. Overhearing that, Jay had also decided to go back on his choice to walk beside K. Now, here he was, walking at the back of the group, observing them as they talked happily with each other.

He had to admit that he did feel slightly alone, but… He didn’t feel so bad. In actuality, he felt like a proud father, seeing his kids walk and talk elated lay with one another. The time he had to himself, alone, was also precious and he found that he was starting to treasure the feeling of walking alone, just strolling, with his friends in front of him.

Jay smiled. His gaze landed on the three friends he hadn’t been able to meet for quite a while. His mind went back to what Sunoo had said. Staring at K with narrowed eyes, Jay agreed with Sunoo. His hyung really did look much happier when he was with Hanbin. Well, he had to agree that Hanbin was a very cute and happy-go-lucky man — he could brighten everyone’s day with just a smile. Jay respected and admired Hanbin’s ability to do that.

Jay’s eyes moved to Nicholas, his other fellow 2002-liner. The boy looked significantly happy walking beside Hanbin too. Jay thought about the time in I-Land when he went to Ground with the other five people. Nicholas had been one of them too, and when he reached Ground, Jay recalled that the first thing the Taiwanese had done was to go to Hanbin and hug him.

Jay frowned unconsciously. He couldn’t really choose who was best for Hanbin, and so, he prayed for the best for both of his friends.

Suddenly, Jay felt a tug on his shirt. He stopped in his tracks at once, preparing his heart for the possibility that he might not find anyone or anything there when he looked back. Regardless, his heart wasn’t prepared for the possibility of seeing a child with teary eyes.

_What the—_ Jay immediately squatted down so that he was at the child’s eye-level. Softly, he asked as gently as he could, “What’s wrong?”

“An…” _An?_ “Angry-bird-hyung…” Jay didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. Still, he gave the small boy an encouraging smile. “What is it?”

“My mother… I lost my mother.”

Jay stayed silent for a while. Slowly, he looked back, and saw that he had lost his group of friends in the crowd as well. _Looks like we’re lost together, kid._ He turned back to the child.

“Don’t worry, hyung will help you.” Jay decided to help. The child had been brave enough to ask a stranger for help, he had to give it to the boy for being courageous enough. Plus, it was dangerous for a lone child to wander around in a place like this.

“Come on, hold my hand tightly, okay?” Jay told the small boy. The boy nodded, gripping Jay’s hand. Jay wanted to coo at the feeling of the small palm in his, but he chose not to. He shouldn’t scare the child.

Together, Jay and the child went in search of a map so that they could find the Information Center, where they would be able to request for an announcement for the boy’s mother.

Too deep in his desire to help the boy, Jay didn’t feel the vibration of his phone in his pocket.

* * *

“Call him again,” Heeseung repeated for the nth time already.

It had been K, who finally realised that Jay was missing. Noticing that Jay wasn’t walking at the front, with the other pairs, K had turned back, only to find out that Jay wasn’t there either. He had told and informed the others quickly, but they were yet to have an answer or clue as to where he is.

Sunghoon shook his head. “He’s not picking up.” He furrowed his thick eyebrows. Jake patted his back, sensing that he was feeling nervous. He was too, but he gave the other boy comfort anyways. “It’ll be fine. We’ll find him soon.”

“I should have paid more attention to him,” Heeseung said quietly. “I should have made sure he was—” Sunoo interrupted him, not having more of that nonsense. “You shouldn’t blame yourself, hyung. It’s not your fault!” Ni-ki nodded. Jungwon nodded too, saying, “It’s no one’s fault. What matters most now is that we find Jay-hyung.” The others murmured words of agreement to his words.

“Why don’t we go search for him?” K asked. “We could split into pairs. One goes to the North end, another to the South, one to the East and the last one to the West.”

“There’s 9 people here,” Heeseung pointed out.

“Then, I could go alone and search the whole place,” K offered. “I _am_ the oldest one here.”

“But you could go with—” Heeseung tried to protest.

“It’ll be much faster if I go alone,” K said. “I’m a marathon runner too, remember? I’ll search for Jay more efficiently if I go by myself.” Seeing K’s resolute gaze, Heeseung could only nod. “Okay, hyung. Remember to call us if you find him.”

_When_ , K thought. _When he finds Jay, not if._

Because he would do all he could to find the younger.

* * *

There had been no announcements for finding a lost child yet, so it was most likely safe to say that the kid’s mother was searching for him too, though it was quite a weird decision to do so.

On the other hand, taking care of a child was hard. Jay has now experienced it firsthand.

The kid had drooled at the sight of cotton candy, and Jay felt that it was only right to buy him one. He bought one for himself too. What? This was a _stressful_ situation, he needed his sugar.

After devouring the cotton candy, the kid had shyly told Jay that he needed to go to the toilet. Jay had accompanied him into the cubicle. It was a miracle that the boy hadn’t peed on his shoes.

Then, they had gone around playing carnival games. Again, Jay paid for it. The small boy was now holding a teddy bear in his arms, a wide cute smile on his face.

Afterwards, the kid’s eyes had lit up when he saw the carousel, and Jay was forced to put down his pride and sit on a horse next to the boy for supervision.

… Well, he _could_ have just stood beside the boy, but the kid had requested for him to sit on a horse too. Jay didn’t have the heart to say no.

Now, the kid was just about to drag Jay along to wherever he wanted to go next. It was like his worries about his mother had disappeared.

“Hey, Haru-kun,” Jay said in Japanese. 

(Yes, they had learnt each other’s names. Jay couldn’t possibly call the kid “kid” all the time. It would have been rude. Yes, the lost kid turned out to be a Japanese. And yes, the child was quite proficient in Korean, but Jay had decided to speak to him in Japanese in hopes of giving him more comfort.) 

“You want to find your mother, don’t you?”

Haru nodded, seeming to be confused. “Of course!”

“Then, why don’t we take a break from going to the places you want to go to?”

“But if I’m lost and Mommy knows it, she would go to the places I usually go to.”

“That…” Made lots of sense actually. “Right…” At the corner of his eye, Jay saw a map. He pointed at it. “Why don’t we check where you want to go, then?” There had been times when they had walked in circles, trying to find their destination.

Jay also wanted to check for the location of the Information Center since they hadn’t been able to find a map in the time they were walking around.

Thankfully, Haru was quite an obedient boy. “Okay!” His hand in Jay’s, Haru pulled the older boy towards the map. He was too short to see it, so Jay carried him in his arms.

And that was when he heard a person calling his name. “JAY!” 

Jay and Haru turned their heads in unison to look at the person. It was none other than K.

* * *

K was sure he had seen what looked like the back of Jay’s round head near the vendor selling cotton candy.

But once he made it there, through the sea of people, the younger was nowhere to be found.

K gritted his teeth, feeling his annoyance build up. He was annoyed at himself. What kind of hyung was he? What kind of hyung could allow their dongsaeng to get lost in such a place like this? Not to mention, that dongsaeng of his was a newly debuted idol. What would Jay do if he’s suddenly faced with people who recognised him?

He had watched the videos of his dongsaengs getting mobbed at the airport. He had seen Heeseung and Ni-ki protecting Sunoo. He had seen Sunghoon protecting Jungwon. He had seen _Jay_ walking at the back of the group, doing his best to protect his friends as well.

Even as a viewer, K had felt terrified. He didn’t know what the boys had felt, experiencing it themselves. He didn't want the younger ones to experience something like that ever again.

K shook himself out of those thoughts. The boys seemed fine now. They might have felt scared at that time, but they were strong children. They would get over it, and hopefully, they _have_ gotten over it.

Now, it was time to find Jay.

K ran all around the place. He looked at the carousel. He froze.

That was a _weird_ scene.

Jay was sitting on a horse, appearing to be conversing with a small boy next to him.

While K felt relief bubbling up inside his heart, he was wondering why the younger was riding the carousel so leisurely when he had worried his friends so much.

K only snapped out of trance when he saw that the ride had stopped. As fast as he could, he made his way through the crowd, going towards Jay.

He saw as Jay took the boy by the hand. The two were going towards the directory. He tried calling Jay’s name, but the noise of the crowd swallowed the sound of his voice. The younger hadn’t heard him.

K pushed his way through, not caring as much as he should have when he collided shoulders with strangers. _Sorry_ , he thought. His eyes were stuck on the back of Jay’s head.

He couldn’t let the younger get away. Not when he finally found him.

K called out Jay’s name again, when he was nearer this time. It worked.

Jay finally turned to look at him.

* * *

“Jay-hyung,” Haru said, his fist crumpling Jay’s shirt. “You know that man?” He was staring suspiciously at the man who had called his hyung’s name so familiarly, so loudly. 

Was this man going to take his hyung away? He didn’t want that. Jay had been very nice to him. He wanted to find his mother soon and tell her that it would be great to have Jay as his elder brother.

Jay gave a low laugh at Haru’s cute expression. “Yeah, I know him. He’s Japanese like you too.” That didn’t help Haru ease his suspicions.

“I don’t like him,” Haru said softly, pouting, as Jay walked towards K, a smile on his face. _Maybe K-hyung can help us find Haru’s mother_ , Jay thought with relief. He hadn’t heard Haru’s quiet words. Realising that, Haru frowned. Then, he proceeded to trash in Jay’s arms.

“What the— Oi, oi! HARU! Stop it! You don’t want to—”

Perhaps it was Jay’s extremely loud voice. Jay didn’t have the chance to finish his words before he heard a female voice shouting, “HARU? HARU!”

Jay stopped walking towards K, turning back instead. He met eyes with Haru, giving a soft smile at the boy who was tearing up.

The woman finally reached them. She was breathless, having run everywhere to find her son. “Haru!” Haru reached his arms towards his mother. “Mommy!” The tears Haru were holding in finally flowed down. Jay gently patted the boy’s head before handing Haru to his mother carefully.

The woman sent Jay an appreciative smile and started to whisper words of comfort to her child. 

Jay didn’t know whether he should stay or leave, but he didn’t have the time to make a choice anyways. A hand fell onto his shoulder, gripping it tightly but not in a way that was painful. His whole body was turned, such that he now faced K. He gave K a sheepish, embarrassed smile.

He just remembered that he had strayed away from his friends. He must have worried them, huh?

“Jay-ah,” K breathed out. Jay didn’t expect the older to crush him in a hug the next second. His arms dangled at his sides awkwardly, caged by the man’s strong arms. 

Regardless of that, Jay let the older hug him. It reminded him of the various hugs they had shared in I-Land. It was nice. The feeling of something so familiar like K’s hugs was welcomed. And if he were to be completely honest, Jay had missed his hyung’s hugs.

“Jay,” K said softly. “Really, you… Do you know how worried we were?” His hug was getting tighter. “Heeseung even blamed himself for not paying attention to you. I was blaming myself too, you know.” Even tighter now. “I’m so glad I found you.” Oh God, Jay was getting crushed, literally, by the hug that was tightening and tightening. He was suffocating. K didn’t seem to notice it, continuing his nagging. “Did you forget that you’re a newly debuted idol? Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be walking alone—”

It was Haru who saved him. The small kid was already out of his mother’s arms, tugging on K’s pants. “Hey! My elder brother can’t breathe!” K, noticing the small child, frowned, but he immediately let go of Jay once he processed the words the child had said. “Sorry, Jay,” he said. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, K-hyung.” It was then that Jay finally took in Haru’s words. He bent down in front of the boy. “Since when did I become your elder brother?” he asked, amused. Haru’s eyes brightened. He placed his hands on his hips, grinning at his mother, telling her proudly, “Mom! Meet Jay-hyung! He took care of me when I was lost. He’s a really cool person. So, can he be my elder brother? He doesn’t mind it!”

“What the—” Jay stood up. “When did I say I didn’t mind it?” he muttered under his breath. Haru looked at him sadly. “You don’t want to be my elder brother?” Jay melted at the sight of him pouting. However, before he could say anything that he would have definitely regretted, he felt an arm sling over his shoulder. 

“Sorry, kid. This hyung is already my elder brother.” From his peripheral vision, Jay could see a tuft of blonde hair peeking out from the grey hoodie the person was wearing. Ni-ki.

While Haru had been requesting his mother for a request that would not come true, K had quickly dialled Heeseung’s number. Fortunately, the boy had answered immediately. K had passed him the news that he had found Jay and told him their current location. Heeseung had then promised him that he would call Sunghoon and Sunoo, so that left K to call Hanbin. The Vietnamese had picked up after the third ring, and once again, K told him the good news and where they were.

Soon enough, all the other eight boys had reached them.

Haru was surprised at the many people who were coming closer to them. They all seemed to know his hyung. Was his hyung a celebrity or something?

Still, that did not deter Haru from grabbing Jay’s hand and pulling him away from Ni-ki’s hold. “Let go of my hyung!” Ni-ki grabbed Jay’s arm, tugging him back. “He’s not your hyung!”

Jay, in the middle of it all, was feeling… He didn’t know what he was feeling. He never thought that there would be ever a day when two kids were pulling his arms (ouch) and fighting for him. Should he be happy about this?

Feeling the pain in his sore arm muscles, Jay grimaced. _Yeah, nope._ Peace was the best, you know? Jay sighed deeply in his heart. Despite wanting them to stop, Jay didn’t really know _how_ to stop them. What could he do with both of his arms captured? If he pulled back his arms, then he might accidentally injure one of the kids. That would be bad.

“Haru, stop it,” he heard his savior, Haru’s mother, say to her child. He also heard K telling that to Ni-ki. Soon, his arms were free.

Haru’s mother bowed deeply, apologising profusely. Jay just told her that it was fine, and the mother was preparing to bring Haru away.

However, the little kid took a look back at Jay and got out of his mother’s grasp. He stubbornly pushed the teddy bear he had gotten from the carnival games they had played into Jay’s empty hands. “Jay-hyung, I won’t forget you.” Then, before Jay could react, Haru rushed back to his mother, held her hand, waved them goodbye, and the two went on their way.

And then… The nagging started, much to Jay’s misery. _He_ was the one who usually nagged at the others, not the others to him.

“Why didn’t you pick up your phone?” Heeseung chastised, frowning. “I’ve called you many times, you never picked up once!” Hearing that, Jay took out his phone. Indeed, there were more than 50 missed calls, most of them coming from Heeseung. Jay smiled apologetically at his friend. “Sorry, Heeseung-hyung.” The older merely blew away a strand of his reddish-brown hair. “It’s fine. At least we found you.”

K cleared his throat. “ _I_ found him,” he corrected the younger. Heeseung looked at his hyung helplessly. “Does that really matter?” K grinned. “Of course it does.” His eyes twinkled brightly then, and Jay felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Yup, he knew it. The next thing he knew, K told the others, “Did you know? Jay, _Jay_ , was sitting on a horse, riding the carousel with the kid. He was going up and down like this—” He mimicked the mechanism of the carousel. “It was really weird to see, actually.” The others burst out laughing, with Jay pouting, sulking.

He narrowed his eyes on his fellow 2002-liners, Jake, Sunghoon and Nicholas. Those three were laughing the hardest. “Ah, K-hyung, you should have taken a video,” Sunghoon said between laughs. Jake nodded his head vigorously. “Jay, why don’t you ride it again?” His eyes were filled with mischief. “Let us take a video of you.” Nicholas added to Jake’s words, “For memories, you know?”

Jay sighed. “Yeah, nope, not going to happen.” Another day, another dark moment made… When would he ever not add another embarrassing moment to his already long list of those?

“Okay, stop teasing Jay,” Hanbin, ever the angel, cut in. “What do you want to do now?”

“I’m tired,” Sunoo whined. “Why don’t we quickly go home? We’ve run around too much today.”

“But… There’s still the night parade and we haven’t ridden anything yet,” Ni-ki mumbled quietly, his brows furrowing. Everyone still heard it. Sunoo’s eyes and mouth widened. “I mean— WHY DON’T WE _NOT_ GO HOME? If the baby wants to stay, we stay.” He side-hugged Ni-ki, grinning cutely at him. Ni-ki’s frown deepened. “But hyung, aren’t you tired? Your health isn’t so good, so we can just—” Sunoo cut him off, giving a quick peck on Ni-ki’s lips. The maknae’s face turned red.

“Shameless,” Jay heard Sunghoon mutter under his breath. He had to agree. That was just… His pure eyes were now tainted.

Sunoo objected, “Now, since when did I say I was tired? I’m not, so let’s go ride that!” He pointed to a rollercoaster. “We didn’t get to ride anything because of Jay, so let’s make the best of the rest of the day!”

“So it’s my fault now?” Jay said softly, pouting, watching as the other boys followed Sunoo and Ni-ki to the line. He felt a pat on his head. “Yah, K-hyung! You scared me! I thought you were in front with the others.”

K raised an eyebrow. “As if I’d let you walk alone at the back after that happened.” He pointed his chin towards the people in front. “Look, they keep looking back too.” Hearing that, Jay trained his eyes on the 8 other boys walking in front of him.

He saw Heeseung turn his head back, then back forward. Then, Sunghoon did it. Then, Sunoo, even though the boy had “blamed” Jay for not being able to ride anything yet. The others took turns to look back at him, as well, making sure he was still following them.

Smiling, Jay let out a soft sigh. “Sorry for worrying you guys, hyung. I should have paid more attention to my phone…”

K merely patted Jay’s head again. He stopped, pondered over it seriously, then took Jay’s hood off and ruffled his hair. Although he was slightly perturbed that his hair was going to get messy, Jay let his hyung continue doing it anyway. K had always liked patting his dongsaengs’ heads back in I-Land. Jay knew that.

“Jay-ah.” Jay glanced at K, tilting his head. “Hmm?” K grinned at him. “I missed you, you know?” Jay smiled back. “Me too, hyung.” They shared a look, then burst out laughing. 

“Wow, that was a sentimental moment,” Jay remarked. “What made you say that so suddenly, K-hyung?” The older man shook his head. “I’ve always been thinking about you kids. I’m really glad we met one another today.” Jay hummed an agreement. “Yeah, it’s a really pleasant coincidence.” “Yeah, it is.”

They heard Sunoo’s voice then. “JAY-HYUNG! K-HYUNG! HURRY UP!” The others had already reached the end of the line. Apparently, K, Hanbin and Nicholas had fast passes too. “DON’T LET NI-KI WAIT!”

Jay rolled his eyes. He grinned at K. “I’ll race you, hyung.” K smirked. “Challenge accepted.” Together, the two went to their friends.

At the spur of the moment, Jay had forgotten that his hyung was a marathon runner. He lost, a huge gap between them.

* * *

“Get back home safely,” Hanbin told them, a slight worry in his eyes. “Jay, when you go out as a group, make sure you don’t stray away from them, alright?”

Jay laughed, but seeing Hanbin’s sincere gaze, he nodded, becoming more serious. “It was just a one-time thing, Hanbin-hyung.” He reached his arms out, hugging the older man goodbye. “Don’t worry.” He let go. Hanbin smiled at him. “If you say so, Jay-ah.”

“Oh,” Heeseung said, interrupting the conversations of goodbye that all the other boys were having. “Manager-nim has reached already. We’ve got to go.” The seven boys faced the three people they had never thought they would have met that day, and once again, they formed one huge circle, all ten of them embracing each other.

“Have a safe trip back home,” Heeseung told them, while they were all squeezed against one another. “And… Keep running for your dreams, okay?”

The only response he got from the three boys were affirmative nods and three gentle, kind smiles.

“GOODBYE! I’LL MISS YOU GUYS!” Sunoo shouted from the open window of the minivan. He was pulled back inside the vehicle, which, for the record, was already starting to move, by a very worried Ni-ki.

The three boys stayed where they were, until they could no longer see the silhouette of the minivan. Then, they went back to their respective homes, their hearts fulfilled.

* * *

“Ah! We’re back!” Sunoo exclaimed, slumping on the couch at once. “I’ll be kind and let all of you shower first.”

Jake clicked his tongue. “Kind? You just wanna rest there, don’t you?” But before Sunoo could open his mouth to argue, he felt the spot next to him sinking. Jake sat there, sighing. “Ah, I feel tired. The rest of you can shower first.”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes. “You two shouldn’t sit on the couch when you’re stinky.”

“Stinky?” Sunoo sat up straight, placing a hand on his chest, seemingly offended. “ _Excuse me_ . Who do you think you are, to call _me_ , _the_ Kim Sunoo, _stinky_?”

“Do you even smell yourself?” Sunghoon said back. “Even Ni-ki doesn’t want to come a few metres near you.”

Sunoo narrowed his eyes, pouting. “Who says that—” He saw Ni-ki avert his gaze away from him. He gasped loudly, ever the drama queen. “No… Ni-ki! You don’t mean that!”

The younger evaded his gaze, running for the toilet. “I never said anything!” he yelled. He passed by a confused, already bathed, Heeseung. “What happened to him?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jungwon, who had been a quiet bystander, giggled. “Ni-ki was cornered by Sunoo-hyung into admitting something that he didn’t want to admit, so he ran away.”

Heeseung laughed, pinching Jungwon’s cheeks gently. “How cute~ Both you and Ni-ki, I mean.” He then casted a glance at Jake and Sunoo. He pursed his lips. “We just went out. You shouldn’t sit on the couch already.”

“But we’re tired, Heeseung-hyung,” Sunoo retorted, giving him puppy eyes. “Can’t we stay here? Please?”

After a few months of staying together as a group, Heeseung had already built immunity to Sunoo’s cute acts. He stayed firm to his decision. “No, go shower, before it gets too late.” He met eyes with Jake, Sunghoon and Jungwon one by one. “That goes for the three of you too.”

The four boys saluted. “Got it, Heeseung-hyung,” Jungwon said, in a deep voice. Following their eldest hyung’s orders, they walked in an orderly line to the bathroom. Heeseung couldn’t keep the smile that broke out on his face as he watched the scene.

* * *

When Heeseung went to their shared bedroom, he was surprised to see that Jay was already there, on his bed, already showered. "Jay?”

The boy shuddered, turning back to face Heeseung at the speed of light. “Heeseung-hyung! You scared me! Can’t you make a sound before creeping up on me?” Heeseung arched an eyebrow. “Really, Jay, you’ve got to do something about being a scaredy cat.” Jay just stuck out his tongue.

Heeseung laughed at the second eldest’s childishness. He sat on an empty spot on Jay’s bed, near the younger, and then saw the teddy bear in Jay’s hands. His mind went back to the moment when the kid, though a stranger to him, pushed it into his friend’s hands. “Aww, are you keeping it, Jay-ah?” he asked, smiling.

Jay scoffed, the corner of his lips turning upwards. A small smile bloomed on his face as he placed the teddy bear by his pillow. “Of course. It’s a gift, after all. It’s also a sign and memento of a new meeting. Why would I not keep it?” Jay pursed his lips then. “Hopefully Manager-nim won’t find it and throw it away.”

Heeseung gave him a soft pat on the back. “He won’t. And even if he does find it, you could always tell him that you bought it yourself.”

Jay let out a low chuckle. “Right, as if he’d believe that.” Heeseung smiled cheekily. “He will. Starting tomorrow, I’ll tell everyone that you suddenly have an obsession for soft toys. They won’t stop hearing about it and they’ll definitely start believing in it.”

Jay gave him a light punch on his shoulder. “Yah, really. You all love to tease me.”

“Yeah we do,” Heeseung admitted. “But we love you, you know that, don’t you?” 

Jay looked at his hyung. A smile cracked on his face. “Of course. I love you and our friends too, hyung.”

A short comfortable silence passed between the two old friends. Until a voice piped in. “So, who loves who now? Are the two of you getting together?”

Jay groaned, facing a pair of foxy eyes. “What?” Sunoo asked. “Did I just come across something that should have been a secret?” Heeseung let out a laugh. “No way. Jay here was just talking about how much he loves us members.”

At that, Sunoo’s eyes turned to crescents. “Awww, Jay-hyung, I love you too.” He proceeded to give Jay a hug.

Another voice entered the scene. “What’s this? Sunoo’s cheating on Ni-ki?”

Sunoo gave Sunghoon, who was by the door with Jake, a glare. However, he didn’t let go of Jay. “Of course not. Jay just confessed that he loves us, so I told him I loved him too.”

“Awww,” Jake said, joining in the hug. “That’s so nice of you, Jay. Love you too.” 

Sunghoon took a seat on the floor, in front of Heeseung. “Yeah, that’s my one and only unit right there,” he said proudly, pointing while winking at Jay. Jay smiled. “Then, my one and only unit, why don’t you help me get out of this suffocating hold?” Sunghoon smiled back. “Nah, it’s fun to see you babied and smothered once in a while.”

After a while (and Jay was still in Sunoo’s and Jake’s hold), Jungwon and Ni-ki reached the room, looking comfy and adorable in their pyjamas. “Hmm? What’s happening to Jay-hyung?” Jungwon asked, walking towards them. “Why is Sunoo-hyung hugging Jay?” Ni-ki questioned, dropping honorifics for Jay for the nth time.

“Yah! I’m still your hyung, Ni-ki!” Jay shouted. The maknae made a silly face at him. Jay rolled his eyes, albeit affectionately. “Anyways, are any of you going to help me out? They’re like koalas.”

Sunghoon and Heeseung exchanged glances.

Sunghoon stood up from where he was sitting. Then, he enveloped his arms around Jay, Sunoo and Jake, joining in the hug, pushing them to lie down on Jay’s bed. Heeseung joined in the hug too, which was now starting to become a pile instead. He gestured at the two maknaes, beckoning them to join in. They did.

Together, the 7 of them spread out until they each had their own individual lying space on Jay’s bed.

“... I guess that helped,” Jay muttered, finally able to get a load (literally) off his chest.

“See?” Heeseung said. “We love you.”

Jay laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

He had known it already, and even if it hadn’t, what just happened definitely made him know about it.

“I love you guys,” Jay breathed out, earning appreciative side glances from his members, his friends, his brothers. Yet, he just had to ruin the sentimental, relaxed atmosphere. “But get off my bed, I wanna go to sleep.”

He got hit in the face by a pillow thrown by Sunghoon.

* * *

The next day, their managers were furious.

“And what exactly is this?” The 7 boys were faced with newspapers with the headlines “ **ENHYPEN x 3 I-Land Trainees… Group Hug Outside the Bathroom?!** ”.

“... That headline’s actually funny,” Jay commented coolly. “Manager-nim, you’ll handle this, won’t you?”

Heeseung smiled, hoping to soothe their manager’s anxiety. “Manager-nim, we’re really sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

Their manager only looked helplessly at them. He sighed. “Fine, our team will handle this. I guess I could excuse you boys, considering it’s the first time you’ve gone out by yourselves.” He continued muttering some unintelligible things under his breath. They took that as their cue to leave.

“At least they didn’t take a photo of me with Haru,” Jay said. “Could you imagine what the headlines could have been?” He shuddered.

* * *

A few months after meeting the cool hyung in the amusement park, Haru was watching the television while his elder cousin was watching some videos of… Of… Well, men he did not know.

Haru yawned. He laid his cheek on his elder cousin’s knee, wanting to take a nap. That is, until he saw something. He sat up immediately, confusing the teen beside him.

“What’s wrong, Haru-kun?”

“O— Onee-chan!” Haru said, pointing at the tablet’s screen. “This— This!” The man had a different hair colour, but there was no way Haru could forget the angry bird hyung that helped him. “Jay-hyung!”

The teen raised an eyebrow. “Jay… Hyung?”

Haru nodded vigorously, his eyes glued on the screen. “Why do you have a video of Jay-hyung? What's he doing? Eh? Woah, I didn’t know he could dance! He just seemed like a funny, cool person. Wah! And those are the other people I saw with Jay-hyung! Ah! That one was the one who fought me over who Jay-hyung’s younger brother was!”

Haru failed to notice the widening mouth and eyes of his cousin.

He frowned. “Eh? Why did it end? Play it again, Onee-chan.” He looked at his cousin, tilting his head innocently. “What is it? Why do you look so surprised? Are you sick?”

The girl blinked out of her stupor. She gazed complicatedly at the cute boy. Then, a smile broke out on her face. “Haru-kun, do you want to learn more about them?”

Haru nodded immediately. “Yes!”

The girl's grin widened. She sat Haru on her lap, replaying the video.

“They are ENHYPEN.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it!  
> Thanks for taking the time to read this story of mine, have a nice day😊


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